


imprinted upon your stars

by thatsparrow



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Lazy Mornings, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25318207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsparrow/pseuds/thatsparrow
Summary: It's early—too early for alarms, too early even for Andy, and so Joe settles back into the mattress, eyes falling shut, leaning forward to press a distracted kiss to the smooth stretch of skin under Nicky's left ear.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 2
Kudos: 133
Collections: Battleship 2020, Battleship 2020 - Yellow Team





	imprinted upon your stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HogwartsToAlexandria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HogwartsToAlexandria/gifts).



> title from "cavalry captain" by the decemberists

Joe wakes up as the first thread of morning sun slips past the curtains, legs tangled in the motel sheets, a tired AC unit humming somewhere overhead. It's early—too early for alarms, too early even for Andy, and so he settles back into the mattress, eyes falling shut, leaning forward to press a distracted kiss to the smooth stretch of skin under Nicky's left ear. In another life—as another man—he'd reached for this same spot with the tip of his sword, had opened an ugly line of red from the edge of Nicky's jaw to the column of his throat. At the time, he'd cursed whatever divine work had sealed the wound closed; now, he offers his gratitude. 

"You know there's nothing there," Nicky says, quiet, stirring a little against his chest. "Even if there were, I wouldn't blame you." Joe feels Nicky's left hand wrap around his, the gentle brush of Nicky's thumb across the back of his knuckles, the way his touch lingers on the band of Joe's ring. "The world was different, then— _we_ were different. If we're playing that game, it's not as if I wasn't trying to give you scars of my own." 

"If you had, I'd cherish each of them." He keeps his voice low while Andy and Booker sleep on the other side of the room, breathes out the words against the curve of Nicky's neck. "I'd happily wear any reminder of you on my skin. If I could, I'd tattoo your name across my chest to carry it with me always." He'd tried, once—a line of Italian around his upper arm—but it had just healed over, new and unmarked. A shame.

Nicky laughs a little, warm and sweet as melted honey. "You're hopeless."

"Hopelessly in _love_."

"Both." Nicky shifts a little across the mattress, reaching for something at the base of the nightstand. His hair is mussed at the back, his shirt wrinkled from sleep, but even so he strikes Joe as a figure built for statues, marble and steadfast. After a moment, Nicky turns over to face him, the thin-tipped Sharpie he saves for crossword puzzles pinched between his fingers. Joe raises an eyebrow as Nicky reaches for the hem of his shirt, then smiles as Nicky lifts the fabric, bunched up around his shoulders until Nicky can see the upper half of his chest.

"And you call me hopeless?" 

"I'm working with what I have." Nicky grins back at him with the pen cap between his teeth, one hand steady on Joe's skin as he writes _Nicolo_ in careful strokes over his heart. When he's done, he offers the Sharpie to Joe. "Your turn." In similar fashion, Joe mirrors his action and holds up the hem of Nicky's shirt, writing _Yusuf_ in Arabic on his chest.

"Perfect," Joe says when he's finished, his fingers idly tracing where Nicky's name now sits on his skin. "Except that they'll wash away."

"Yes, they will," Nicky says, resting his forehead against Joe's. "But we'll know they were there."

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to ba_lailah for beta reading!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] imprinted upon your stars](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25699837) by [ffg_podfics (flowersforgraves)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowersforgraves/pseuds/ffg_podfics)




End file.
